Petras Repšys

LT[...] Šioje knygoje į Petro Repšio kūrybą žvelgiama ne chronologiškai klasifikuojančiu žvilgsniu, nebandoma jos skaidyti stambiais luistais, o stengiamasi aprėpti visą plastinės raiškos įvairovę, suvokti dailininko meninio mąstymo kaitą, parodyti, kaip keitėsi kritinės įžvalgos ir vertinimai. Tai ne kūrinių katalogas, o asociatyvus kūrybinės būties eskizas (bent jau to siekta). Rišli kūrybos visuma suskirstyta pagal žanrus, kad knyga įgautų griežtesnę struktūrą, be to, norėta parodyti ne tik tai, ko gausiausia ir kas vertingiausia, bet ir tuos bandymus, anot Justino Mikučio, "taiklius nepataikymus", kurie suteikė naujų inspiracijų, netikėtų kūrybinių impulsų. Apie tai trumpose esė vaizdžiai pasakoja pats dailininkas: jo užrašai, sentencijos, replikos tapo tarsi rišamąja knygos medžiaga, o jis pats - ne tiek kantriu vedliu po "gausią, tirštą, rupią" kūriniją, kiek smalsiu ir kritišku pakeleiviu. Repšio kūrybos visumą iš įvairių žiūros taškų aptaria dailėtyrininkas Alfonsas Andriuškevičius, poetai Sigitas Geda ir Marcelijus Martinaitis, istorikas Alfredas Bumblauskas, muzikas Donatas Katkus. Pabaigoje įdėti trys etiudai: apie Viktoriją Repšienę ir abu sūnus - Algirdą ir Igną. Kad atsirado tokia "knyga knygoje", lėmė keistas nepamirštamas įspūdis, kurį patyriau per Repšių šeimos kūrinių parodą Šiaulių dailės galerijoje 2001-aisiais.Šalia "chrestomatinių" Petro ofortų čia buvo eksponuojami gamtos dvelksmo persmelkti Viktorijos gobelenai, mįslingi, nors realistiški Algirdo grafikos lakštai, "bergmaniški" Igno peizažai ir žaismingos "postmodernistinės" fotografijos, rodomi jo sukurti filmai. Atrodė, kad čia, šioje erdvėje, šią akimirką jie visi keturi net fiziškai yra kartu. Kalbasi. Ginčijasi. Juokiasi. Netrukus eis pasižvalgyti po vakarėjantį Saulės miestą... Norėjau su(si)grąžinti tą įspūdį, tą akimirką - tarsi mitinio laiko amžinąjį dabar [p. 24].

ENWhatever Gordian knots Lithuanian art critics attempt to disentangle when they discuss diurnal or nocturnal art, puzzle over the features of 'silent modernism', trace numerous trajectories of seminonconformism, or weigh the difficult (for postmodern times) balance between tradition and innovation, it is hardly possible to do without Petras Repšys. Sometimes, examples of this artist's work are even used to determine the strong and weak sides of all Lithuanian art. Repšys' opus magnum, the fresco "The Seasons" (1986), reveals the world as an endless symphony of being, hardly able to accommodate all its layers of meaning, secrets and riddles. The 'plenty, density and coarseness' of Repšys' works have become a metaphor of breathtaking freedom in the times of constraints of the Soviet regime. The various Baltic myths that Repšys draws on in his fresco become what Roland Barthes calls 'depoliticized speech', and time suggests quality, not chronology. The fresco reveals the eternal present of the mythic time, where the imaginary becomes a lot closer (and, paradoxically, a lot more distant) than reality. The air one breathes here is somewhat rare and volatile. "I already consider it luck that, having touched the old architecture, I have not maimed it', Repšys moderately comments on the fresco. For him, the history of art and culture is most intimately connected with the history of thought, and the visual expression naturally extends cognition, which usually begins with perception of and sensitivity about the world. Repšys continues: I have strung the whole world - its beginning and end - on the thread of mythology. There is nothing scientific in that fresco. I don't care if one specific colour dominates in Žemaitija, while another one is common in Dzūkija... I do respect the order of separate ceremonies, but the whole system of customs is one and the same all over Lithuania.I did not have the ambition of reconstructing the old religion or creating any fixed system. Everything I sought to represent I considered a culture and a heritage. I blend images of separate ceremonies and anything else. Then I choose those that are more visually appealing. For instance, while sketching the wedding, funeral and christening rituals, I would take anything I thought necessary, and from quite various Baltic tribes. It is symbolic that this fresco became exceptionally important for the Lithuanian nation, which at the time (Repšys finished painting "The Seasons" in 1986) was exhausted by the colonisers' restraint, violence and cynicism, and started moving towards independence. [...] Summing up, Repšys' work is a reflection of tradition in a contemporary context. However, according to the artist, after we learn the tradition, we realize that we must continue forward because traditions have to be created instead of merely preserved. Sometimes his works, which abound with metaphors and associations, seem rough and mysterious. Sometimes Repšys, just like Paul Klee, 'allows the line to dream' because he needs 'an intricate density of lines', their frenzied dance. However, even then chaos is managed by plastic logic and inner order. This is because, according to the artist, 'art is a pot full of boiling water. You put some salt, and it is distributed evenly among all the vegetables'. Repšys’ originality lies not so much in his manner, but in the perception and vision of the world. His rich imagination, stormy temperament, curiosity and professional drive, a peculiar harmony of most contradictory features, astonishes. The world thought about in images retains the relationship between objects and phenomena untouched.However, combinations of concreteness and unreality, masterfully woven sacred and secular domains determine that his works seemingly open 'the inside of the outside and the outside of the inside'. This book presents Petras Repšys' work without a chronological classificatory look, and attempts to grasp the diversity of plastic expression, to understand the development of his artistic thought, and to show how critical insights and judgments have been changing, too. The book is conceived not as an art album, but as an evocative sketch of artistic existence. Repšys' oeuvre is divided according to genres so that the book acquired a stricter structure. Furthermore, the goal is to show not only the most plentiful and valuable part of the artist's work, but also the experiments, or, according to Justinas Mikutis, ‘felicitous mishits,’ which enriched his work with new inspirations and endowed it with new artistic impulses. The artist himself evocatively comments on this in his brief essays. His notes, statements and remarks have become the conjunctive element of the book, and he himself - not so much a patient guide through his 'plentiful, dense and rough' work, but an inquisitive and critical companion.The achievements of the artist are discussed from various perspectives by art critic Alfonsas Andriuškevičius, poets Sigitas Geda (1943-2008) and Marcelijus Martinaitis (1936-2013), historian Alfredas Bumblauskas, musicologist Donatas Katkus, et al.